BSE scores first IPO since 2017
Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday September 8, 2026 13:50
Continental Reinsurance group managing director, Lawrence Nazare, says Botswana stood head and shoulders above its peers when the reinsurance giant looked around the continent for its Initial Public Offer (IPO).
With a presence in more than 50 African countries, operating through six regional hubs in Lagos, Nairobi, Gaborone, Douala, Abidjan and Tunis, Continental Re is amongst the continent’s homegrown commercial luminaries.
Last December, the group moved its headquarters from Mauritius to Gaborone for the same reason that it sought out the Botswana Stock Exchange for its IPO.
“The BSE's ambition to attract regional and diversified issuers aligns naturally with who we are: a Botswana-headquartered business with a pan-African footprint,” Nazare told Mmegi. “We were drawn by a well-regulated exchange, access to a deep and sophisticated domestic institutional-investor base, and a market actively positioning Botswana as a regional financial hub. “For a group like ours, that combination of a credible listing venue at home and a shared ambition to build Botswana's capital markets made the proposition compelling. “Our listing is intended to be a contribution to that agenda as much as a transaction for the group.”
The “sophisticated domestic institutional-investor base” and “well-regulated exchange” are some of the top points the BSE has been highlighting in its endeavours over the years to attract new listings. The bourse is founded on a sound technological footing, backed by the London Stock Exchange’s automated trading system and operates supported by modern policies and regulations. It also boasts some of the country’s brightest financial services minds and deep regional, continental and international connectedness.
The Exchange punches above its weight, with its total capitalisation of P1.01 trillion as at Thursday being nearly four times greater than the country’s forecast Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2026-27 financial year (at current prices).
Returns on the BSE have also beaten most metrics, including inflation. As at Thursday, the Domestic Companies Index had risen by 66.6% in five years. The numbers get more stupendous the further back one goes, with the DCI having risen by 651.8% since 03 September 2000, or 26 years ago to Thursday.
Despite the numbers, the Exchange has struggled to attract new primary listings, with the last IPO occurring in November 2017 when CA Sales raised P50 million.
Efforts to handhold local firms and potentials, as well as global campaigns, have had warm responses, but limited results for many reasons, including both global and local economic headwinds. The BSE has finetuned and adjusted its listings requirements and also stepped up its education campaigns, including moving right down to secondary school financial literacy programmes.
Nazare told Mmegi that over and above the BSE’s attractiveness, Continental Re was swayed by Botswana as an investment destination.
“Botswana gives Continental Re a stable and credible headquarters from which to manage a genuinely pan-African group,” he said. “The jurisdiction combines political and macroeconomic stability, an investment-grade sovereign profile, an established legal and regulatory environment, a substantial domestic institutional-investor base, and a clear policy objective of developing the country as a regional financial-services centre.”
He added: “Domiciling and listing here also creates a healthy separation between the group holding company and any single operating market. “Listing on the BSE, in turn, gives us permanent access to public capital, greater visibility and price discovery, a broader investor base, and the governance and disclosure disciplines that come with public ownership. “Botswana is our home and capital-market base, while the business remains operationally pan-African through its regional structure.”
In domiciling in Botswana and seeking its IPO here, Continental Re, is hoping to tap into the significant institutional investor base that has supported previous debt listings by other entities. As at June, pension fund assets alone were measured at P176.4 billion or 65% of forecast 2026-27 GDP at current prices. That figure is well above an average of 22% of GDP for 16 countries sampled by the OECD in 2023.
Nazare told Mmegi that the reinsurance giant plans to use Botswana as a springboard for further success in Africa, a continent plagued by under-insurance.
“Africa remains materially underinsured relative to its population, economic activity, infrastructure needs and underlying risk exposures. “Rapid growth and economic development, urbanisation, infrastructure investment, financial inclusion, growing climate-related protection needs, and regulatory initiatives that aim to retain more risk on the continent should all support long-term demand for insurance and reinsurance,” he said.
For the BSE, the IPO represents an opportunity to demonstrate both its strength in handling large listings, as well as the local market’s ability to support such capital raises.